Us And Them
by TwistedAngel101
Summary: Esme and Carlisle have a little heart-to-heart following the battle with Victoria's army; finding light within the loss. **Set near the end of "Eclipse"/One-Shot**


**Disclaimer:** They're not mine, I'm just a college student having some fun -so please don't sue!

**A/N 1:** Well, this is my first _Twilight Saga_ fic...which mainly came about after I saw _Eclipse_ last weekend. Just a little one-shot/peak inside the heads of Mama and Papa Cullen after the battle ('cause c'mon they don't get enough attention.) *Also all spelling and/or grammar mistakes are my own.

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Wispy purple clouds dotted the night sky, the odd twinkling star making its appearance, though mainly, the small town of Forks was blanketed in darkness. Esme sighed, a light breeze tossing her dark hair off her shoulders. As part of their human "act" each of the Cullens did minor things to alter their appearance. For Esme, the change from a caramel brown to a darker shade was the biggest in awhile.

On this night however, the Cullen matriarch had far more pressing things on her mind. Sure, the battle between her family and Victoria was finally over –with some help from the werewolves of course– but that didn't mean everything had returned to normal. While Esme was thankful none of her children, let alone her husband had been seriously harmed, her mind kept returning to one specific newborn –the young girl, Bree.

"Darling, is everything alright? You've been gone for quite awhile…Jasper said you were feeling distressed when you left."

The petite brunette sighed; leaning back against Carlisle's solid chest as his arms wrapped around her. Simply relishing in his presence, not able to do so before now, as he'd left straight for the La Push reservation right after the battle. For Bella's sake, Esme hoped the injuries Jacob Black had suffered, had not been too severe but Carlisle had been down there a long time –making that hope highly unlikely.

"Relatively yes, we're all alright and Victoria is finally gone…but I keep seeing her face." Esme's voice had tapered off near the end, the young girl's pain still fresh in her mind and causing her heart to ache. The subsequent squeeze to her waist, told her all see needed to know, Carlisle already _knew_ whom she was thinking of, even before the girl's name left his lips.

"_Bree,_"

He exhaled, his chin coming to rest against his wife's shoulder and placed a kiss to the side of her head. "We did everything we could, love…" he whispered.

Esme nodded softly, knowing he was right, but that still didn't make her all of her guilt fade away. "_I know_," sighing, she nuzzled against him. "It just seems so unfair…_so pointless_. She couldn't have been older than fifteen, that's younger than all of our kids –she was a child, defending a vendetta that was beyond her years; beyond her understanding."

"We offered her asylum," he whispered. "Anything else was beyond our power. Even then, we both knew she was living on borrowed time." Carlisle sighed, his hands coming to rest on her arms and began rubbing up and down. "I may not always agree with the Volturi, but I know better than to challenge them…I wouldn't risk loosing you or the others."

Mocking her usual loving demeanor, Esme scoffed and twisted out of her husband's grasp. "Somehow I don't think they'd show us the same courtesy." The brunette turned, a hand cocked against her hip. "Aro isn't _stupid_, he knows you well enough to _know_ you'd never change sides –but he's also made it clear he wants our children."

"_Meaning_?" Carlisle prompted.

"Meaning I don't think he would've been too "broken up" if something had happened to us today." Her golden eyes scanned his, practically imploring him. "Jane knew more than she was sharing, _and we both know it_."

While he hated to admit it, let alone think there was a power more threatening than Victoria's army, the blonde knew his wife was right and sighed in admission. "I can't deny that…" he stated, moving to her side and cupping her face. "Or that Aro doesn't follow his own agenda, but for now there's nothing he can hold against us." Carlisle paused then, placing a gentle kiss to Esme's lips, not surprised by her initial resistance; then hesitant reciprocation as her anger cooled.

"That's the difference though, isn't it?" she mused. A ghost of a smile gracing her lips as he placed a kiss to her temple. "We never sought out our children…_turned them_, strictly because of what they could offer…we did it so they could have a second chance." The couple turned, following the path back towards the house, Carlisle's hand placed lovingly around her waist. "The only _reason_ the Volturi has ever spared a human, is because of what they could offer as one of us."

"Unfortunately yes, they're very narrow-minded in their scope." Carlisle agreed, giving her a gentle squeeze, "Which included Jane and her brother."

Sensing her mate's discomfort Esme paused mid-step, turning and molding her body to his. "For which I'm all the more thankful Aro didn't manage to sway you." He gave a soft smile, running a hand through her hair and watching as it passed through his fingers like silk. To the Volturi, Esme's gift of passion would've been seen as useless, a waste of an immortal…much like his own gift of compassion. To Carlisle on the other hand, Esme's ability was what completed his own, gave him a reason –a balance– rather than just a purpose for existing. Those qualities were _never_ something the Volturi looked for, it was all about power, keeping order and their place as the head of society. Had it not been for their "gifts" Jane and her brother would've been left to die…_to burn_.

"I love you," he whispered, giving her a quick Eskimo-kiss.

While it might have taken her husband a moment or two, Esme quickly returned the gesture happy he could "read-between-the lines" of her previous statement. It was because of him, _his gift_, that she, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett were alive. It was also that same gift, perhaps mixed with her own –as she'd never take all the credit– that had created their family and kept it going; especially after Alice and Jasper had joined them. It was never about power or numbers for the Cullens, it was offering a second chance to those who needed it…whom everyone else had turned their backs on. While she mourned for Bree, for all the newborns who'd been forced into this life as Victoria's pawns, she was thankful for their children, _their life_ and that he'd had the courage to choose a higher path. One she was sure, now more than ever, their family was committed to…no matter what happened next, or what was thrown at them; they'd go down fighting –_together_.

"I love you too."

~Fin~

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**A/N 2:** Love/Hate? Leave me a review! :)


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